Improvement in mowing-machines



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@aient @titille Letters Patent No. 107,296, dated September 13, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN MOWINGf-MACHINES.

' The Schedule referred vto in these Letters Patent and'making part of the same.

To all whom 'it may concern Beit known that I, HENRY lf. SHAW, of West Roxbury, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in .Mowing-,Maohincs, of which-the following is afull, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a mowing-niachine with my improvements applied thereto.

Figure 2 is a plan of the same.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal-section on the line .r .r of tig. 2, looking in the direct-ion of the arrow 4'.

In mowing grass where it is required to change the direction of the draft of the 'machine to cut a new swarth, it is necessary to raise the finger and cutter'- bars from the ground before the horse or horses can back or turn the machine, as the weight of the iinger and cutter-bars, if left to drag on the ground, would create considerable friction, which it is desirable to avoid.

rlhe ordinary means employed for electing this end is by means oi' a lever operated by the driver from his sc at; and to continually work this lever is quite inconvenient and laborious. l

The object ot' my invention is to dispense with the :manual labor of working the lever; and consists in mechanism so constructed and arranged that the power exerted by the horse or horses in backing the machine will first elevate the inner cud ofthe iinger and cutter-bars from the ground, so that when brought into place they will be released and fall upon the ground in their proper euttingLposition, by the horse or horses ceasing -to draw backward on the pole and my invention also consists.` in mechanism so constructed and arranged that the draft-chain or bar may be pivoted or connected at a point below and in the rear of the center voi' the axle of the machine, whereby the finger and cutter-bars are raised, and the pole and al portion of the framework. thrown or tipped up, when the power of the horses exerted to draw the machine'orward.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it ont.

In the said drawing- A is the finger-bar, the inner end of which rests in a shoe, B, which is pivoted tothe outer-end of an arm, C, which passes under the pole D, and is `hinged at a to a projecting portion, E, lof the framework, by which construction the finger-bar may be free to be raised and lowered to conform to thepositions required, either at work or when not in use.

G is the axle. y

H H are the wheels.

A vertical slot, l, is made in the pole near its outer end.

In this slot is pivoted a short levcr,'I, tothe upper end ot ,which is secured the cross-bar or yoke K, to

Vwhich the collars or breast-plates of the horses are attachcd.

'Io the lower end of this lever is secured thev outer' the horses in pulling back on the yoke K, will eause= the upper end of the lever to bc thrown back against the inner side ot' the slot l), and thclowcr end lof the lever to be thrown forward, and, through the oon-nee-A tion previously explained, throwing forward the crank' y, to which the rod c and chain L are attached,,andv

throwing up the crank f, which, consequently, iaiscls 'the arm G, and with it the shoe B and inner end Qt' the finger-bar, thelatter being elevated from contact with the ground, in which position it is easy for thehorses to back the machine, in eont-radistinc'tiou.to having the friction of the finger-bar and shoe *on the ground io overcome; or, of the labor 'of working alever to raise them therefrom. l

As soon as the finger and cutter-bars are in'ought` up in line for cutting the .next swarth, thevhorses cease drawing back on the yoke `or cross-,bar lLthe lover I, rod c, chain L, cranks of the rocker-shaft ifi, and arm C, return to their normal position, and the weight of the shoe and 1" nger-bar A isagain supported upon the ground.

' Tho-greater portion ofthe weight of the ti`1i`gerbar 'may' be lifted from the ground when themachine vis ready to out, Aby the following means:

To the whiiiie-tree iI is secured the Ydraftbar N, which is connected by a chain, t, to the lower Yend, if, of a bent rod, O, which is pivoted at Z to a staple or eye-bolt, in, extending out from below and in the rear of the center of the axle G, the outer end of the bent rod O h eing secured to the arm C, andserving tosupport or lift it with the finger-bar when the lower end kof the rod is vibrated on its fulerum I," in the direction of the arrow 5, by-the power exerted by the horses to draw the machine forward. When the finger-barand shoeare oft' the ground their weight 'is borne by the staplem at its fulerum I, the effect of which is similar to ythatwere theweightl required to raisethem suspended at l, which may be considered as one end of a. lever' whose iulcrnm is the center ny of the axle, and the pole the other end of the lever, the pole and framework front of the axis being, consequently, raised thereby, relieviul so much weight from the necks of the horses.

From the foregoing construction it will be evident that two levers having their fulcrums at Z and n are so connected 'as to produce two results, namely, the raising ofthe finger-bar from the ground and the tipping up of the pole and a portion of the framework, thereby relieving their weight from the horses necks.

Instead of the construction above described, one side of the pole may be provided with a slot in which a pin, connected with tbe nger-bar, may bc made to move by the power of the horse or horsesexerted backward; a. longitudinal slot in the pole being also provided, to allow the pole being moved backward on the framework, in which operation the pin ascends the inclined surface of the slot in the side of the pole, thus raising the finger-bar as required.

W hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the shoe B, arm C, short lever I, cross-bar K, rod c, crank f y, draft-bar N, and rod O, eonstruetedand arranged as described, so that the power exerted by the horse or horses in backing the machine will raise the finger-bar A from the ground, substantially as and for the purpose set. forth.

Witness my hand this 16th day of July, A. D. 1870.

HENRY F. SHAW.

Witnesses:

N. W. STEARNS, W. J. CAMBRIDGE. 

